Matthew Lang

Ensuring that your productivity system is correct is important if you want keep the actions flowing through it. Like deciding if a project is in fact a context.

Many of you have been reading my post on using projects in Todoist. Up to now I've always used projects in Todoist as lists. They're just placeholders for actions. What I'm starting to see now though is that some of my projects might in fact be better used as contexts.

This week I listened to Mike Vardy's Productivityist podcast and caught up with two episodes focusing on context and their application in productivity systems. It made me look more closely at my own projects in Todoist. I singled out two projects that I think are better suited to being contexts, reading and writing.

My reading project is just a list of chapters from the books I'm reading on a daily basis. Breaking books into chapters means that I can schedule different books in for different days. Reading isn't a project, it's a label to describe a particular action. My writing project is essentially a list of ideas for the blog, but writing isn't a project. Writing describes the action. Clearly something is amiss here.

A context can be defined as the circumstances that surround a particular event. In the case of David Allen's GTD framework, a context is a label that you put on your actions so that you know two things:

1. What you need to get that action done
2. When that action can be done

When I look at my projects I see them differently now. In the case of reading and writing, they're not projects, they are in fact contexts. They are used to describe the circumstances in which I can finish their associated actions. I read a chapter of a book first thing in the morning as it's when I'm most receptive. Writing tends to happen in the morning as well. I'm just more swithched on during this time. So not only do these contexts describe the action but also when I schedule them in the day as well.

I can't recommend enough that you continually review your productivity workflow. Finding that point where everything falls into place isn't going to happen overnight or even come boxed up and ready to go in a system like GTD. It takes time to see what works for you and what doesn't. After taking out the reading and writing projects from Todoist, I'm starting to see a change in how I view projects in Todoist. I'm still digesting Erlend Hamberg's 15 minute guide to GTD and there's a few more changes that I'm going to try with projects in Todoist, but that folks is for another day.

The new Bond movie, Spectre, is out next year but that's not what I was interested in. I'm not a petrol-head, but you can't deny that the new Bond car looks great.

Yes, another Terminator movie. Anyone else think that these movies will keep going and going with the inclusion of a time machine in the plot?

Still, looks like it will be good fun to watch, especially with Emilia Clarke as a younger badass Sarah Connor.

Love the exaggerated gussets on this frame.

via Cycle EXIF

While I do believe that killer apps have had their day for the foreseeable future, I can't deny that the unbundling technique can be used to create some great apps.

Ed Rex reckons there are three reasons why unbundling works. Couldn't agree more with his reason for simplicity.

When your app only needs to do one thing, it can do it really well. You can have big, clear buttons for the things people use it for — because there’s no need to clutter up the screen with all those other options you’ve got rid of. This makes your app unbelievably easy to use — and that’s what smartphone users want.

— The Formula For Creating The Next Killer App by Ed Rex

Read on for the full recipe.

Are killer apps a thing of the past?

I remember a few years back when Twitter was young and great, Facebook was viewed with more positive eyes than it is today and the mobile app stores were just starting out. Good times. It was also about this time that I heard the phrase killer app. For the uninitiated a killer app was often seen as an indispensible app that would help push the sales of the platform the app was run on. Simply put, people would buy the hardware needed to run the app in question. Back then, it seemed that every month there was a new app or service that would be tagged as the next killer app.

Fast forward to today and it's not something I've heard often in the technology press. It's still used to describe some apps but not as much. I still follow the same technology sites I did a few years ago, so what's different?

The world has changed. There's less of a technology barrier now than there's ever been and that due to the small device that you're probably reading this on. Over the last few years mobile apps and services have reduced, or in some cases removed, the complicated steps that would be required to carry out a specific task or action. Along with this simplification comes a growing market of companies and indie developers who all us to use their app. And the demand for apps shows no sign of slowing down. I was browsing through the productivity category of the App Store and there are hundreds of apps in this category. There are just so many choices.

Another factor in this is that the mobile market is not tied to one particular platform. In the past when mobile hardware platforms were getting past their first couple of release iterations, it was certainly clear that alot of people preferred the Apple platform and there were many apps that persuaded people to buy Apple's hardware. Today though the market is more evenly divided. Apple and Google have their share along with others like Blackberry and Microsoft. I would be hard pressed to pick an app that certainly fits the name of killer app and that's due to the fact that many apps are available on not just a single platform.

Which leads me to think that perhaps we're past the stage of killer apps. With such a huge market for applications, there are dozens of apps that let you achieve the same result through different methods. Maybe now we're not looking for killer apps, perhaps we're looking for game changing apps. Not just new ways of doing things, but whole new markets of the mobile apps.

Wearable technology is still fairly new and with Apple's new smartwatch due for release soon, there will be many tech pundits looking for the next killer app for wearable technology. Whether this becomes a market in mobile apps or a completely new market remains to be seen. Given the recent release of similar products by other technology firms though, I don't think there will ever be a killer app for wearable tech.

Is the killer app dead? I would say yes for the foreseeable future but it certainly won't stop business and developers using the title to promote their apps. I think it will take a whole new field of technology before we see true killer apps again. Apple Lense anyone?

... with Nicholas Bate.

Curtis McHale talks about his change from solo freelancer to business owner and why it's necessary.

As their leader, it’s now your job to make sure your team members do their jobs well. Coders stay up-to-date on code and technology. Designers continue to hone their skills. And you’re responsible for knowing enough about your entire organization that you can have good conversations with your clients without sounding like an idiot. This is how you earn trust and credibility.

— Evolving into a Business Owner by Curtis McHale

I'm still comfortable with my solo freelance career, but I do know that in the future that next natural step is to lead.